


Snapshot

by Akoia



Series: The Life and Times of Harry Potter [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Pre-Story, Twins, WBWL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 07:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14666067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akoia/pseuds/Akoia
Summary: Harry understands that he isn't the same as his brother. Harry understands why his brother gets all the attention, and why he's cast aside like nothing. Harry understands, he really does, but...





	Snapshot

Harry Potter was four years old when he realized that he was different from his brother. His parents, they loved Eddie so much. He was always being hugged and kissed, but Harry hardly ever received the same attention. He walked into the kitchen one morning and found his mother humming a tune softly.

"Eddie, honey, is that you?" She asked, her voice clear, crisp, and sweet. When she turned and saw that it was only her smaller, black-haired child, she pressed her lips. Harry wouldn't have said that she was disappointed to see him. Only that he wasn't the _ideal_ son she was looking for. "Oh, good morning Harry." She said, before turning around and returning to her song. Harry watched her, and he wondered, why didn't she use magic like their father did when he was washing the dishes. He didn't ask though, he didn't have much like for silly questions.

"Mum?" Harry asked, walking over and pulling on her purple skirt. She hummed and didn't look down at him. "Why do you and papa always take Eddie out, but leave me here at home?"

She turned her matching green eyes down to him. Her hand halted and he could see the intelligence burning behind her gaze. "It's because Eddie is special. There are people who want to see him."

"Am I _not_ special?" He asked. "Does no one want to see me?"

"You _are_ special." She said. She turned the water up and her eyes darted out around the room. She crouched down and touched his shoulders. "A very bad man came to hurt your brother, but someone important died for him. When that happened, the curse rebounded and hit the bad man. There is a powerful man who believes that the bad man's soul became a part of you. He and most of his followers believe that's how you got that little scar on your cute little face." She touched the lighting scar with her thumb. "Because of that, mummy and papa have to watch both you and your brother very closely, to make sure what's inside you can't take control. That's why we keep you at home so often. Because you have something dangerous inside you, so that powerful man asked us to keep you contained until you were the age to control your magic better."

He looked up at her in confusion. She kissed his head and hugged him. "Mummy loves you, but she has to protect her other son and the rest of the world from _you_." She pulled away and turned him around with a smile. "So mummy can't be too close to you, now go upstairs love."

* * *

 

Harry was eight years old when he began to feel the first black tendrils of hatred consume his heart. Harry wouldn't say that Eddie was mean, but Ron wasn't a good influence on him. They always chased Harry around, whenever Ron came over to the Potter Manor. Harry was hiding in a tight space, with his knees pulled up to his chest. The door to the cupboard burst open and Ron reached in and grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him out of his hiding space. Ron threw him down on the hard wooden floor and put a foot on his chest with a smirk on his face. "Caught you."

Eddie came running into the room, his brown eyes wild with the excitement of a chase. He grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt and pulled him up. "You lost, so we're going to play a punishment game."

He and Ron dragged Harry through the halls, despite the smaller boy's struggling. They dragged him towards the room that Ron was staying in. They opened the door and quickly shut it, throwing Harry down on the ground. "So what should we do to him?" Eddie asked Ron. Harry kept his head down. His mother and father never liked it when he fought back against when Eddie was playing one of his practical jokes.

"I have just the thing," Ron said. He turned and opened his bag that he'd brought from home. He pulled out a bottle of pink liquid. "Fred and Gorge made this at Hogwarts."

"What does it do?" Eddie asked hesitantly.

"I guess we're about to find out."

Ron roughly grabbed Harry and forced his lips open, before pouring the pink into his mouth. It _burned._ Harry grabbed his throat and choked. He rolled around on the ground, trying to scream that he couldn't breathe that it _hurt_ but it seemed that neither his brother or Ron understood what was happening. He clawed at his throat, digging his nails into his flesh, drawing blood. There was something inside him, squirming in anger, trying to save him.   

The two other boys looked at each other before they darted out of the room, screaming for help.

When Harry woke next he learned that Ron had stolen a botched potion from his older brother's. It would have killed Harry if they let it go on for much longer. It was actually burning him from the inside out. Ron was thoroughly punished by his mother, but Eddie didn't get so much as a slap on the wrist. It hadn't really been his fault after all.

Harry was walking silently around the house when he stopped outside his parent's bedroom. He could hear them talking. He knew he shouldn't have, but he pressed his ear against the door. But only because he heard his name.

"I'm telling you, Lily, Ron knew there was something wrong with that boy." His father said.

"Quiet, James!" Lily snapped at him, slamming a book down on a table.

"That _thing_ is a demon!" James hissed angrily.

"That _thing_ is our son! Our little boy!" Lily hissed back.

Harry pulled away from the door. He didn't want to hear any more. He knew his father didn't mean it, but it still hurt. It must have somehow been Harry's fault. He shouldn't have gotten caught, he shouldn't have been born wrong.

* * *

 

The young Potter twins were very different. Edmund 'Eddie' James Potter had red hair, freckles, and brown eyes. Hadrian 'Harry' Hugo Potter had messy black hair, fair skin, and bright green eyes. Eddie was about a head taller than his brother. Harry, in his own opinion, was a lot smarter than his brother. Eddie was fifteen minutes older than Harry. Harry, was no one. Eddie was a savior. Eddie's favorite toy was a stuffed bear, Harry didn't play with toys. Eddie was the favorite, Harry was forgotten. Yes, these two boys were so very different from one another.

The two were nine years old and celebrating another birthday. There was a whole list of people, high up in the social circles of the wizarding world that were attending for Eddie. Harry had come down for cake, then promptly disappeared into his room. No one would miss him. Most people didn't even bother to remember his name. He sat on the blue comforter and ate quickly, with a book propped up against his wall, facing him.

There was a knock at his door and he pushed the book onto the floor as it opened. "Hello, Harry." A man said, poking his head in through the door. His scars and his kind blue eyes gave him away. "Happy birthday."

"Remus." Harry greeted with a slight nod of his head.

Remus walked into the room, shutting the door behind him, with a wrapped box in his hand. "I got you a little something. I know how you like to slip away when you're in a crowd, and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out." He smiled and handed the yellow and green wrapped gift to him.

Harry took it and thanked him. He unwrapped it and held a new photo album in his hands as well as a muggle polaroid camera. "Thank you..." Harry said softly, running his fingers over the new items. He had very few things besides books that were truly his. "Thank you for coming, Remus."

"I wouldn't miss my godson's _birthday."_ The man said, sitting on the bed and patting Harry's knee. "Nine years old is a very important age after all. The last birthday before double digits, you're almost a geezer already."

Harry laughed and smacked Remus's arm. "I'm not _old."_

 _"_ I disagree." Remus poked his nose. "So use that camera so you don't forget the important moments."

It was morning and Harry could his older brother shrieking with laughter. Harry peeked around the corner and found that his mother was tickling his brother and kissing his head while their father watched, sipping his morning tea. They'd forgotten to wake Harry up for breakfast, from the look of the plate of finished food. Harry would once again be left to his own devices and feed himself. He turned away and went back to his room, with his book tucked under his arm.

He saw his desk was covered in messy notes and the camera that Remus had gotten for him. There were several pictures on the desk. A snap of him sitting on their window seat with the backyard behind him, the forest twisting away. Him and the cat, Snugly, why was trying to struggle away. Another snap of Snugly curled up in his lap. His father and mother curled up with Eddie between them, all three peacefully asleep. He sat at his desk and pulled out a glue stick and a purple pen, marking the dates of each picture so he could put them in his scrapbook.

The only other picture he had in there was a picture of him and Remus, cake smudged on the man's nose while he gave a silly grin. Harry smiled fondly as he traced his fingers over the picture. These moments were all his most precious moments. When he was finished he spent time looking at each picture, memorizing them. The color, texture, patterns. They were mundane but so very beautiful.


End file.
